Power-transmission device.



H. L. PHELPS. POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 7, 1910.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

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POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 7, 1910.

Patented Oct. 10,1911

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POWER-TRANSMISSION DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 7, 191). Serial N 0. 585,850.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOMIER L. PHnLrs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Martinsburg, in the county. of Berkeley and State of WestVirginia, have invented a new and useful Power-Transmission Device, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to ower transmission devices and it consistsin the novel construction and arrangement of its parts as hereinaftershown and described.

The object of the invention is to provide a transmission device whichemploys, as a medium for transmitting movement from a driving motor to adriven mechanism a column or plenum of liquid such as oil, or water.

The transmission device .is especially adapted to be used upon horselessvehicles, but it may also be used to advantage in other directions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which is adapted to automatically adjust itself todevelop either power or speed.

With the above objects in view-the device A includes a pump memberhaving a driving shaft by which it is actuated. Impellers are mountedwithin the pump member and are relation to the other impeller.

provided with in'termeshing teeth and spaces. The teeth and spaces areof 'peculiar configuration, and one impeller is so mounted as to havebodily movement with The movable impeller is held in a normal position 5under spring tension, as will hereinafter appear. A member having adriven shaft is connected with the pump and is provided with impellershaving teeth and spaces of peculiar configuration, and the last saidmember is adapted, to be driven or operated by a column of liquid, oilor water, or their equivalent, which is forced from the said ump, andafter. operating upon the impe ers in the driven member, is returned tothe pump.

511a transmission device includes a casing link 16, which, in turn, is

1, in which a driving shaft 2 is journaled for rotation. An impeller 3is fixed to the inner end of the shaft 2 and is provided at itsperiphery With a series of teeth and intervening spaces of peculiarconfiguration, as will be hereinafter explained.

A block 4 is slidably mounted in the cas ing 1 and is held toward theimpeller 3 by means of coiled springs 5, which are interposed betweenthe said block and one of the ends of the said casing. Links 6 arepivotally connected at their ends with the opposite sides of the block 4and lie in grooves 7, provided in the sides of the casing 1. A shaft 8is carried by those ends of the links 6 opposite the ends thereof whichare pivotally connected with the block 4, and an impeller 9 is journaledupon the shaft. Said impeller 9 is also provided at its periphery with aseries of teeth and intervening spaces of similar configuration to thoseteeth and spaces provided u n the impeller 3, and to be explainedhereinafter. A rod 10 passes through the end of the casing 1, and isconnected at its inner end with the block 4. The casing 1, at the pointwhere the rod 10. passes therethrough, is provided with a stufiing-box11, of the usual pattern. A yoke 12 is mounted upon the end of the easmg1, and an adjusting screw 13 is mounted at the outer intermediateportion of the said yoke. A compression spring 14 is interposedbetween-the end of the screw 13 and the outer end of the rod 10. Theworking end of a lever 15 is pivoted to the rod 10, and said lever isfulcrumed at the end of a pivotally connected to the casing 1. At 1tspower end an operating rod 17 is pivotally connected with the said lever15.

From the above description it is obvious that by moving the rod 17longitudinally and swinging the lever 15 upon its fulcrum, the rod 10may be moved against the ten sion of the springs 5 and 14, and thus theblock 4 may be moved away from the impeller 3. When this occurs theimpeller 9 1s moved away from the said impeller 3, and consequently, thes ace between the intermeshing teeth of t e two impellers is increased,or a space is provided which Wlll have its effect upon the column ofliquid which is operated upon by the said lmpellers, as will behereinafter described.

A casing 18 is attached to theside of the casingl and is provided withcompartments Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

19 and 20. The compartment 19 communicates with the interior of thecasing 1 by means of an outlet port 21 and an inlet port 22. Thecompartments 19 and 20 communicate with each other through the ports 23and 24, and the compartment 19 is provided with a diaphragm 25, which,in turn, is provided with valve seats 26 and 27, the said valve seatsbeing arranged in pairs, one member of each pair being at one side ofone of the ports connecting the chambers 19 and 20 together, and themembers of the other pair of valve seats beinglocated at the oppositesides of the said ports. A shaft 28 passes transversely through thecompartment 19 and carries a valve 29, which is adapted to close againsteither of the seats 26 or 27 of the diaphragm 25. An operating lever 30is attached to that end of the shaft 28 which projects beyond the sideof the casing 18.

A driven shaft 31 enters the compartment 20 of the casing 18, and animpeller 32 is located within the said compartment and is fixed to thesaid shaft. The impeller 32 meshes with an impeller 33 which isjournaled upon a shaft 34, also extending transversely across thecompartment 20 of the casing 18. The impellers 32 and 33 haveintermeshing teeth with intervening spaces, and the said teeth andspaces are of peculiar configuration, hereinafter to be described. Thecasing 18 is located in a plane at a right angle to that occupied by thecasing 1.

Inasmuch as the intermeshing teeth of the two sets of impellers of thetwo casings are identical, a description of one will answer for all.Each tooth is formed of a cylindrical outer portion 35, whichapproximates three quarters of a complete cylinder and is connected bymeans of a web 36 with the intermediate or hub portion of its respectiveimpeller. The spaces between the adjacent teeth of each impeller arealso cylindrical as at 37, but contract toward their outer portions asat 38, in order to receive the web portions 36 of the teeth of theintermeshing impeller.

The operation of the transmission device is as follows :Presuming thatthe parts within the casing 18 are in the positions as lllustrated inheavy lines in Fig. 40f the drawings, and that the shaft 2 is maintainedin a state of rotation, and the casings 1 and 18 are filled with aplenum of oil or water; as the impellers 3 and 9 rotate the liquid isforced out of the casin 1 through I the outlet ort 21 thereof into t ecompartment 19 o the casing 18. The liquid then passes down throu h theport 23 'into the compartment 20 o the said casing 18 and bears againstthe sides of the teeth of the impellers 32 and 33 and rotates the same.Thus rotary movement is transmitted from the shaft 2 to the driven shaft31, and from the said shaft 31 the said motion-may be utilized in anydesired manner. It will also be seen that the shaft 31 is thus caused torotate in one direction. 'To cause the said shaft 31 to rotate in theopposite direction the handle lever 30 is swung so that the valve 29 isbrought into engagement with the teeth 27 (as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 4 of the drawing), when the liquid will pass from thecompartment 19 through the port 24 into the compartment 20 of the casing18 and turn the impellers 32 and 33 in a direction opposite to thatabove described. In the first instance the liquid passes from thecompartment 20 through the port 24 into the lower portion of thecompartment 19 and again enters theeasing 1 through the inlet port 22.In the second instance the liquid passes from the compartment 20 ofthe'casing 18 through the port 23 into the compartment 19 and thencethrough the inlet port 22 into the casing 1. In both instances thecourse of the liquid through the casing 1 is the same, as it is alsothrough the compartment 19 of the casing 18; but, in the first instancementioned the course of the liquid through the compartment 20 of thecasing 18 is in a direction the reverse of that in the second instance.

Thus, it will be seen that means is provided for reversing the movementof the driven shaft while the driving shaft is in operation, and thatsuch reversal of movement upon the part of the driven shaft may beaccomplished without the use of such mechanism or other complicatedmechanical devices, and inasmuch as the movement is transmitted from thedriving shaft to the driven shaft through the instrumentality of theplenum of liquid, the reversal or stopping of the driven shaft may beaccoming shaft, for therreason that the impeller 9 may move away fromthe impeller 3 against the tension of. the springs bearing directly andindirectly upon the block 4, and thus provide sufficient space betweenthe intermeshin'g teeth of the said im ellers 9 and 3 to permit theliquid passing pm the casing 1 into the casing 18 to move at a slowerrate of speed.

By reason of the peculiar configurations of the intermeshing' teeth andthe intervening spaces of theseveral impellers the li uid I ispositively forced from one set of impe ers 4 to the other, and thecylindrical end of each tooth forms or acts as a compression or drivingpiston, while the space of the adjacent impeller which receives thetooth performs the function of a cylinder. Inasmuch as the spacesbetween the teeth at those points where the surfaces of the adjacentteeth approach the nearest is wider or greater than the transversesectional area of the web portion 36, suificient room is provided topermit the liquid to pass between the adjacent intermeshing impellers.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure, by Letters Patent, is

1. A power transmission device com rising a casing, driving intermeshingimpe lers located in the casing and mounted for lateral relativemovement, tension devices for holding the impellers toward each other, asecond casing communicating with the first said casing by means ofports, and having adjacent compartments also communicating with eachother by means of ports, a valve mechanism located in .one ofthe'compartments,

driven impellers located in the other compartment, and a plenum ofliquid contained I within the casings.

2. A power transmission device comprising a casing, driving impellerslocated in the casing and arranged to" have lateral relative movement, asecond casing communicating with the first said casing by means of portsand having adjacent compartments communicating with each other by meansof ports, a-valve mechanism located in one of the compartment-sci thesaid casing 'and adapted to control the flow of liquid through thecommunicating ports between the compartments, driven impellers locatedin the other compartment of said second casing, and a plenum of liquidcontained within the casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoa'ifixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: E. D. GARDNER.

E. B. KETTERING.

HOMER L. PHELPS,

